Corn-shocker.



I. T. LEAGFER.

CORN SHOGKER.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNnl, 190s.

938,595, Patented Nov. 2, 1909. A 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

www@

I. T. LEAGER. i

UORN SHOUKER.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1, 190s.

Patanted Nov. 2, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I. T. LEAGER.

' CORN SHOGKHR.

APPLICATION FILED .TUNE 1, 1908.

938,595. Patented N0v.2,19o9.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- l um TTF IBA T. LEAGER, OF CHESTERTOWN, MARYLAND.

GORN-SHOCKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1909.

Application led J une 1, 1908. Serial No. 436,029.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA T. LEAGER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Chestertown, in the county of Kent and State ofMaryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Corn-Shocker,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for shocking corn and is intended tobe placed upon the rear portion of a corn harvester of any suitableconstruction, and it will be understood that this invention does notrelate in any way to that portion of the harvester which performs thework of cutting the stalks or which may be employed for the purpose ofplacing in position upon a suitable platform the stalks so cut. I havetherefore shown only that portion of the harvester frame and platformwhich relates directly to my invention.

The object of the invention is to form the cut stalks into a shock; tolevel olf the lower end of the shock so formed; to carry the shock toone side of the platform; and'to then deposit it upon the ground in anupright position, due allowance being made for the inclination of theground when the corn harvested is grown upon a hillside.

Vith these objects in view, my invention consists in the novel featuresof construction hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims andshown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a sideelevation of my device in position to receive the cut stalks, a portionof the supporting platform-being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation the parts being in position to level the lower end of theshock. Fig. 3 is a frontview of the device, the parts being in theposition shown in Fig. 2. Fig. l is a plan view of the device, the partsbeing shown in the position occupied when a shock is deposited upon theground. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is asection on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a detail view partly in section showing theconstruction of the lower portion of a swinging frame. Fig. 9 is adetail perspective view showing a modied forni of shock holding means.

In these drawings l represents the platform of a harvester the forwardportion of which is transversely grooved as shown at 2, to preventforward slipping of the stalks as they are thrown back into the shockforming arms. This plat-form is provided with rear supporting wheels 3.Upon the platform is mounted a post l upon which is mounted a rotatablebifurcated standard 5 upon the upper end of which is pivotally mounted aguide way 6 said guide way being formed of a metal platev having itssides bent over forming channels in which slide the side members of arectangular frame 7 formed of bars of L-shaped metal. This guide way maybe pivoted directly upon the standard or as shown in the drawings mayrest upon an angled bracket 6a the end portions of which are bent downand pivotally connected to said standard. Upon the guide Way and withinthe frame 7 are mounted suitable bearings S which support arotatable'drum 9 operated by means of a handle 9a. To the front end ofthe frame 7 is pivotally mounted an upright l() formed of two bars ofangle iron having their lower end portions spread apart forming anA-shaped base portion, the intermediate and upper end portions of saidbars being in parallel contact with each other and secured together byrivets or other suitable means, or if preferred the upright may be castin one piece the shape described above being retained in the casting.The upright carries an A-shaped frame 1l the apex portion of which ispivotally connected to the upper portion of the upright and the lowerportion or bottom base member of said frame l1, also formed of pieces ofL-shaped metal, slides between the base -portion of the upright 10, andthe free ends of two strips of spring metal 12, which construction isillustrated in detail in Fig. 8, in which view the lower under side ofthe frame 1l is shown in section, said section being taken between thestrips 12 one of which is shown in elevation. Adjacent its lower end theframe l1 carries a crescentshaped bar 13 rigidly secured intermediateits ends to the side members of the frame 11. The upper portion of theframe 1l carries a vertically arranged guide bar 14 the ends of whichare angled and secured to the frame l1 and the body portion of which isoffset so as to stand out from said frame. A suitable flanged plate l5slides on the guide bar 14 and supports the vertical member 16 of aT-shaped bracket, the cross heads 16a of which are arranged one abovethe other and spaced slightly apart. The plate l5 being slidable on theguide bar 414 vertical adjustment is thus allowed for the member 16 andall parts carried thereby, such adjustment being necessary in order tooperate the arms to be now described with either short or tallcornstalks. This bracket carries forwardly extending liked compoundcurved arms 17 and through said bracket, working between the heads aretwo curved shock gripping arms 18 the rear ends of which are pivotallyconnected to a lever 19 which in turn is pivotally carried by the endportions of a U- shaped bracket 20 the bow portion of which is securedto the vertical member 16 of the T bracket, the said U-shaped bracketinclosing the frame 11 and swinging with it. A spring tongue or detent141el is formed by slotting the bar 14C and this tongue engages thelower edge of the plate 15 and holds it in raised position, the tonguebeing pushed inwardly, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, when theplate 15 moves downwardly. Suitable pins 21 arranged in pairs serve notonly to secure the cross heads of the T bracket in place but also serveas guide pins through which the curved arms 18 work, and it will beobvious that when the lever 19 is thrown back into the position shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 2 that the free ends of the arms 18 will bebrought together thereby practically forming a circular band, and asdownward and rearward movement of the lever 19 is continued the circlewill decrease in diameter as the end portions of said arms overlap, andcontinued movement of the lever will cause the arms to cross each other,the space inclosed between said arms and the head 16b of the T bracketwill take the form of a Gothic arch, decreasing in size as the leverreaches the limit of its rearward and downward movement. The object ofthese arms is to grip and bind tightly together the upper end portionsof the stalks gripping them in such a manner that the stalks in thecenter of the lshock will be wedged tightly in place and held againstslipping.

Owing to the brittle polished rounded surface of the corn stalksconsiderable difliculty has been experienced in handling large shocksowing to the tendency of thecentral core 4of the shock to slip and falldownwardly out of position, thus loosening the entire shock andnullifying theaction of the gripping means, which means was of courseonly in actual engagement with the outer stalks of the shock. Thisdiiiiculty has been particularly present when the gripping means as ittightened about the shock retained a circular form, and by forming andmounting the stalk `gripping arms 18 as above de scribed so Vthat inclosing they will first take a circular position to surround and shapethe shock and will then as they tighten take a triangular position inthe form ofx an arch, 'all of the stalks are so tightly bound togethcrthat there is no slipping of ,the center ofthe shock as it is swung fromone position to another. It may be properly stated here that in actualuse the stalks from about one hundred and fifty hills are gathered forthe urpose of forming a single shock, the num er varying of course withthe size of the corn and the number of shock wh ich may be left standingto the hill. It will be understood, however that the shocks are ofconsiderable size and too heavy to be handled without the aid of somelifting mechanism.

To swing the upright 10 upon its pivoted base portion and also tosuitably brace the same I pivotally connect to its upper portion a link22 which in turn is pivotally connected to a link 23, also pivotallyconnected to a suporting bracket 24 carried by one side of the slidableframe 7. To the link 23 is rigidly secured an offset lever 25 and bythrowing the said lever backward and forward the upright 10 will begiven a forward or rearward inclination, of course carrying with it theframe 11 and the parts connected thereto.

A cranked shaft 26 is rotatably mounted upon the forward `side of thestandard 5 to an up-turned end portion of which is pivotally connected alink 27 which is also pivotally secured to a depending tongue 28 carriedby the guide way 6. The other end portion of the cranked shaft 26 formsra suitable handle and by means of the same the guide way 6 and theslidable frame 7 carried thereby are adjusted for the purpose of raisingor lowering the forward end of the frame '7. Upon the drum 9 winds acable 29 the ends of which are secured to the opposite ends of the frame7. A vlatch locking member 30 formed of wire is pivotally connected tothe forward end of `the frame 7 and when brought int-o engagement withthe crank handle 9L locks the drum against rotation by preventingwinding and unwinding of the cable.

In operation the device is first thrown into the position shown in Fig.1 and the har vester driven between two rows of corn stalks which arecut by the harvester and thrown by any suitable means upon theplatform 1. An attendant receives the stalks and throws them back int-othe space inclosed by the spreading of the arms 18, the stalks alsobeing received by the fixed arms 17 which coperate with the movable arms18. Then a sufficient number of stalks have been gathered to form ashock they are gripped by partially closing the arms 18 by throwing backthe lever 19 and the device is then lifted into the position shown inFig. 2, said lifting movement being effected through the lever 26. Thislifts the arms 18 into a higher position and also brings Ythe shock intoa position in which the stalks will inclinev slightly upwardly andbackward.

By swinging the frame 11 slightly forward so as to bring the arms 1Sinto a position substantially parallel to the platform 1, and slightlyspreading apart the arms 18 so as to loosen their grip upon t-he stalksthe lower end of the shock can be leveled, so that when finallydeposited upon the ground the lower ends of all of the stalks will restfirmly upon the earth. The shock is then gripped by throwing the lever19 in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and the other partsalso being thrown into said position, thus lifting the bottom of theshock clear of the platform. The standard 5 is then rotated upon itssupporting base 4i, bringing the frame 'T at right angles to theplatform 1, the catch 30 is disengaged and the handle 9a rotated. rIhiscauses a portion of the cable 29 to wind upon the drum 9 while theremaining portion unwinds thus propelling the frame T along the guideway 6 until it reaches the position shown in Fig. et, the shock holdingarms being thus moved above the supporting wheel 3 upon one side of theplatform, and by throwing the lever 25 forward to bring the arms 18 intoa horizontal position, and throwing forward the lever 19 to spread saidarms apart, the shock is released and is deposited in a perpendicularposition upon the ground. It will be noted that as the frame 11 ispivotally suspended from its upper portion it will hang in aperpendicular position no matter whether the harvester is stopped uponlevel or upon sloping ground.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modified construction of shock holding means inwhich a flanged plate 31, corresponding to the plate 15 and held uponthe guide bar 14 in the same manner as the plate 15 carries a rigidcurved arm 32 and rearwardly extending brackets 33 between which arepivotally mounted an angled lever 34 to which a chain 35 is securedmidway its ends. The ends of the arm 32 are notched as shown at 36 inwhich notches the end portions of the chain are normally held. lVhenthis construction is used the ends of the chain are hooked togetheraround the shock, and the lever 34 drawn back, the flexible chain takingthe place of the pivoted arms 1S. The construction of the other partsbeing the same their operation is unchanged by substitution of themodified form of the gripping device.

Having thus fully described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

l. 1n a corn shocker, a rotatable standard, curved arms supported by theupper portion of said standard, said arms having adjacent end portionsslidably and pivotally mounted, means for rotating the standard andmeans for moving the end portions of the arms along a straight line.

2. In a corn shocker a rotatable standard, a frame slidably mounted uponsaid standard, an upright pivotally connected to said slidable frame, aframe carried by said upright, and pivotally connected to the upper endof said upright, an adjustable bracket carried by the last mentionedframe, curved arms supported by said bracket, adjacent ends of said armsbeing pivoted to a movable support at a distance from each other, thefree end portions of said arms coming together upon rearward movement ofsaid support, the said free end portions of the arms crossing each otherupon continued rearward movement of the said support.

3. A corn shocker comprising a vertically swinging frame, a T bracketcarried by said frame, a lever supported by said frame, and curved armsworking through said T bracket and pivotally connected to said lever.

4. A corn shocker comprising a forwardly and rearwardly movable upright,an A- shaped frame pivotally connected at its apex portion to the upperportion of said upright, curved gripping arms supported from said frame,means for closing said arms, and for guiding them at their ends in astraight direction during said closing movement.

5. A corn shocker comprising a slidable frame, rotatable supportingmeans for said frame, an upright'hinged to said frame, a secondframehaving its upper' portion`pivotally connected to the upper-.portion ofthe upright, and movable gripping arms supported by and swinging withthe second mentioned frame.

6. A corn shocker comprising a rotatable standard, a rectangular framepivotally carried by said standard, said frame having a verticalmovement, an upright pivotally connected to the forward end of theframe, a frame pivotally connected to said upright, said last mentionedframe swinging with respect to said upright, a lever carried by saidsecond mentioned frame, a guide bracket carried thereby, and curved armsworking through the guide bracket, said arms being pivotally connectedto the lever.

7. A corn shocker comprising rotatable standard, a guide way pivotallymounted upon said standard, a frame sliding longitudinally in said guideway, means for sliding said frame an upright pivot-ally carried by theframe, and shock gripping means supported from the upper portion of saidupright.

IRA T. LEAGER.

`Witnessesz Lnwrs K. STAM, THOMAS MAssEY.

